| Landscape Character Assessment | HertsDirect | Environment | |||
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©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
This area runs from Cromerhyde in the north, southwards across Hatfield Aerodrome and up to the grounds of Oaklands College on the edge of St Albans.
©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
An area dominated and unified by the level topography yet with a diverse mix of uses and an incoherent pattern. To the north, arable cropping dominates, with open views, very few hedges or trees and only isolated farms. To the centre, the disused Hatfield aerodrome and the new business park have visually dominant structures, together with areas of existing and redundant mineral extraction. To the south there is a mix of extraction, urban fringe development and Oaklands College, which has a disjointed and mixed character. There is generally poor access within and to the area.
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Geology and soils. The geology of the plain comprises Aeolian silty drift and till. To the centre of the area around the former airfield the soils are stoneless slowly permeable, coarse loamy and silty over clay (Gresham series). Elsewhere the soils are deep stoneless well-drained silty soils over gravel (Hamble 2 series).
Topography. The plain is virtually flat and represents a subtle watershed between the Colne and the Lea. Levels vary by as little as 2-3m over 6km. The land rises locally to the west and the south.
Degree of slope. Falls are often at less than 1 in 1000.
Altitude range. Typically around the 80m contour but falling to 70m at Ellenbrook and rising to 100m within the undulating grounds of Oaklands College on the edge of St Albans.
Hydrology. The area is drained by a number of streams: Astwick Manor Ditch, Nast (culverted), Ellen Brook and Butterwick Brook. These flow slowly to the east to connect with the River Colne in the south or the River Lea in the north east. Groundwater locally affects the soils and there are a few ponds within the agricultural landscape or the woods, e.g. Home Covert. Mineral extraction has lead to the creation of a number of larger waterbodies, some with wildlife interest.
Land cover and land use. The major land cover to the north is arable cropping. There are active areas of sand and gravel extraction, e.g. Astwick Manor, together with areas that have been restored to pasture and arable. The airfield site has extensive areas of grassland and considerable built development. Oaklands College has a mix of land uses, including a small area of parkland.
Vegetation and wildlife. There is very limited woodland cover. Home Wood within Oaklands College is ancient natural oak/hornbeam woodland, with ash, sycamore and lime standards and some hazel. Some of the other woods support ancient woodland indicator species, e.g Home Covert and Oak Wood. There are some younger plantings associated with mineral restoration sites which usually comprise willow and poplars. The modest parkland grounds of Oaklands have some mature specimen trees including lime, oak and copper beech.
Some of the former mineral workings support a mix of flooded gravel pits, scrub and marshland habitats, e.g. Oaklands gravel pit, and have a diverse flora including the southern marsh orchid. There are few hedgerows except to some of the roads, where they have often grown out and include hawthorn and elm. There are very few isolated field trees and these are generally over-mature. The open field pattern to the north is an important site for wintering golden plover.
Field pattern. The area only contains small parcels of remaining pre-18th century enclosure. The vast majority of the land has been disturbed over the last century. To the north the extensive prairie fields are the result of agricultural intensification post-1950. To the south the enclosure pattern has been altered, either following or as a result of extraction and restoration, although some of the mineral sites have been successfully restored to arable. Field sizes are irregular and large to very large in size.
Transport pattern. The area is crossed by a modest number of sinuous secondary roads. Improved roads have been built to service the Hatfield Business Park.
Settlements and built form. There is a very dispersed estate settlement pattern with a small number of isolated farmsteads, e.g. Cromerhyde Farm in the north and Beech Farm in the south. Astwick Manor is a medieval moated site. The area is as empty as it is flat. To the south Oaklands College is centred on the Victorian house (1888) and modest parkland and now has a range of ancillary buildings. To the east the area is defined by the western edge of Hatfield, including the large aircraft hangers and residential areas including Hatfield Garden Village, Stanborough and Ellenbrook. Following the closure of the airfield, the Hatfield Business Park has established. Retail, horticultural and industrial premises dominate to the south of Oaklands. The major landmark to the north is Lemsford parish church of St John the Evangelist.
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This is largely an open and exposed landscape which nonetheless has a private and remote feel in places. It is clearly visible from a number of more elevated locations outside the area. Within the area there are views of the arable landscape from the local roads, including Coopers Green Lane and Green Lane. To the middle, tall hedges, crude earth bunds and modern built development restrict or frame views of this rather incoherent landscape. Within Oaklands many of the views are contained.
Rarity and distinctiveness. The area is most unusual due to its flatness and open character.
The major intrusive built elements within the area are the Hatfield Business Park warehouses. Other significant features are to the eastern fringes and include the former De Havilland flight sheds and control tower. Localised items are the batching plant on Oaklands Lane, glasshouses and nurseries. Over much of the area there is a sense of semi-dereliction or poor management. There has been extensive land-use change and little of the original pattern remains. Changes have been from arable to mineral and also from mineral to arable and pasture. Some of the workings are poorly screened.
There are few rights of way across the area, partly due to aviation uses in the past.
There is insignificant evidence from the MORI survey that this area is widely valued as a distinctive landscape. However, the area includes some features of value to the local community. A previous more detailed landscape character study of this area identified these to be associated with the history of aviation land use, hence the area name (D).
The area north west of Coopers Green Lane is a Landscape Conservation Area.
| CONDITION | |
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| Land cover change: | widespread |
| Age structure of tree cover: | over-mature |
| Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: | relic |
| Management of semi-natural habitat: | poor |
| Survival of cultural pattern: | declining |
| Impact of built development: | high |
| Impact of land-use change: | moderate |
| ROBUSTNESS | |
| Impact of landform: | prominent |
| Impact of land cover: | apparent |
| Impact of historic pattern: | relic |
| Visibility from outside: | widely visible |
| Sense of enclosure: | open |
| Visual unity: | incoherent |
| Distinctiveness/rarity: | unusual |
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Disused Hatfield aerodrome(j.
Billingsley)
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